1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns an apparatus for collating articles into batches and more particularly to an apparatus for rapidly feeding wrapped articles along a conveyor by pusher members which cooperate with a rotating article restraining device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to apply wrappers to individual sweets and like articles by a primary wrapper and to feed the wrapped articles along a platform as a uniformly spaced procession by a series of regularly pitched pushers which engage behind and advance the individual articles which lie flat on the platform when delivered onto it from the primary wrapper. The purpose of this is to collate the articles into batches, which are thereafter fed to an overwrapper which applies a further wrapper to each collated batch.
If it should be desired to produce over-wrapped batches in which the articles stand erect instead of flat, it is necessary to turn each article in the procession from the flat to the erect orientation prior to collation and this presents a considerable problem in a modern high speed packaging machine which is required to wrap the articles at a speed as high as 1000 articles per minute.
A first approach to the problem is to provide a ramp in the platform, down which the articles are moved by the pushers from an initial higher level, at which the articles are delivered to the platform from the primary level, to a lower level at which collation is effected. It has been found, however, that this alone is insufficient because at high speeds of operation the articles tend to overshoot the ramp and arrive at the lower level of platform in a flat rather than an erect condition. As will be appreciated, failure of only a single article to be turned through 90.degree. as it moves down the ramp will necessitate stoppage of the machine until the fault is corrected.